Shadow
by rakatakat
Summary: Bit of panel rewrite from the Four Swords , quick drabble


ay sorry i haven't written anything! have a quick drabble wah

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><p>-<br>Zelda peered over the flat ledge of the tower. They were so high, cloud cover surrounded lower levels of the marble. The curvature tucked beneath it so much that she couldn't even spot the ground.

She wasn't much fazed; she was already in poor shape. A veil made of thick black wool hung from her crown over her unkempt hair and down to her shoulders. Wind blew right through her with what little proper clothing she had on of a tattered dress, and faced day to day with cold and mistreatment from Vaati's cruel lot of unsavory monsters, heights were among the last things she feared.

"Thinking of jumping are we, princess?" A familiar but unpleasantly hinged voice asked from behind. "My, my, that's a bit macabre for you. I feel like I should let you know that the wind will catch you if you try to escape. I simply can't have someone as beautiful as yourself suffering such an atrocious death."

Zelda balled her fists angrily and stepped away from the edge. She hoped if she didn't acknowledge Shadow Link, he'd leave her be. But she would have no such luck.

He phased into a pool of blackness and crept along the marble, materializing again right in front of her face.

"Awh, it pains me to see those pretty eyes plagued with such despair." he whined sarcastically, pouting with a small grin.

Zelda turned her gaze to her feet and bit her quivering lip. She completely loathed seeing him. More so than even the idea of her death, she was horrified of the boy. The idea that such a vile entity existed in the mere shadow of the Link she had known and loved for so long disgusted and confused her. In her conscious thought, she struggled to assure herself of the fact that Shadow Link did not reflect on what her Link was capable of, but she found it increasingly difficult with every waking second. His clothes, his face, even his movements; though tainted with sickening darkness, exactly paralleled the identity of someone she once admired and trusted.

"Love, love, come now, you don't have to look so sad about it." The darkness materialized itself in a contortion and Shadow Link ducked enough to peer into her watery eyes. "But I must admit, you seem to be handling your doom a good well better than the other maidens. The way they sobbed hysterically, begging for their lives… it was almost touching…" he mused, staring off.

For a second she was tempted to believe him and allow herself to succumb to tears, but she cursed and grew all the more irritated with herself. It was painfully obvious that his empty harassment was nothing more than a visible attempt to cause her anguish. And she was foolish enough to let him do it.

Now resolute in crossing him, Zelda spun around abruptly and folded her arms, denying him the satisfaction of reading her face any further.

Amusement tugged at the corners of Shadow Link's mouth, creeping up to form an atrociously dark smile. He rose and drifted closer to Zelda; hooking a shadowed claw in her soft hair, smelling the faint purity of life on her pale skin.

He was so close that Zelda could feel his icy breath on her cheek. A wayward desire registered in his mind, how he wanted to touch her, to feel for himself her taintless identity. He reached out, and; where his cold fingers caressed her neck, an unmistakable shiver thrashed down her spine.

The last of her composure exhausted, all at once Zelda snapped away and threw the back of her arm around, landing with a brutal slap on the small of his jaw. Her hand stung madly under her dirtied glove with the force of the hit, but she was too furious to care.

Stunned, Shadow Link flew backwards, clutching his face. He seethed under his black hood, blood red eyes glowing madly. His mouth hung open lamely as he struggled to formulate a reaction.

Baring his teeth, he adjusted himself with a twitch and relaxed his eyes. "I…" he stopped himself and sighed. "You sure are lucky you're pretty…" he mumbled under his breath.

"You vile wretch," she growled murderously. "Maybe the reason you parade yourself around this castle like your presence is something of value is because you truly do realize that you are nothing more than a mere sad duplicate of someone you will never hope to live up to. As if turning yourself on the helpless and treating me or anyone else with such disgusting impudence will prove that you are anything more than a faithless and pathetic shadow, who serves more use to dutifully mirror and be all but actively ignored by your counterpart."

Her rage quelled slightly with her outburst, but where she succeeded Shadow Link miserably failed to contain his own temper.

His sneer was harsh and bloodcurdling. Zelda stared in mistaken horror as darkness crept hungrily across his body and consumed what little humanity was left in his appearance. Ferocious, crude curls of dusk lashed around him as he shook with rage. "You…" he stuttered before exploding with fury.

"You… insufferable BITCH!" he screamed, thrashing up and lunging at her. Hopelessly uncontrollable and impossibly fast shadows darted out around him as he barreled straight towards the princess.

And mere inches away, just as suddenly as he had charged, he was stopped without warning. Contained abruptly by a solid and impenetrable force of air, the breath was forcefully sucked clean out of his lungs.

Her enemy left collapsed and gasping, Zelda lapsed into an inexplicable state of concern. Before she could stop herself, she swept forward and reached, face knit with worry.

But she two found herself paralyzed by a hauntingly sharp voice that stung her ears painfully as it cut through the whistling wind.

"How dare you even attempt to lay one hand on my prize. I should kill you where you stand, shadow."

In a painfully long second of silence, Zelda watched him struggle helplessly in the invisible prison. Finally, the walls released in a vigorous bought, and Shadow Link fell limply to his knees.

Clutching his chest, he wheezed before shooting her one final, daggering glare. And with his last expression of hate he threw his shadows down the tower and immediately out of sight.


End file.
